Hungry Judges of Local Book Contest go for Sugary Prose

Edible Book Festival invites culinary entriesTaste-off will be April 1 in Collins Memorial Library

TACOMA, Wash. – The Edible Book Festival returns on Monday, April 1, for another afternoon of cheers and tears as the best book cook in the region is chosen for the seventh year.

Campus members, neighbors, and out-of-town culinary aficionados alike are invited to create an edible plate of cookies, cheese, greens, cold cuts, or whatever grabs your fancy—so long as it evokes the name of a book.

The taste-off, with prize categories ranging from Most Creative to Most Nutritious to Most Literary, will be held beginning at 11 a.m. on April 1, with the award ceremony at 3:30 p.m. The contest is part of the International Edible Book Festival, which is celebrated by hundreds of libraries across the country and overseas, from New Zealand to Romania. Everyone is invited to come view the show and to vote for the People’s Choice prizewinner. The details:

We also invite visitors to donate a canned food item for a special one-day food drive for the St. Leo Food Connection in Tacoma.

There are few restrictions in creating an edible book. The rules require only that it is made of food and inspired by a book. Non-edible accoutrements are allowed, as you will see by viewing the 2012 entries from the link above. Past entries have included titles such as Much Andouille About Nothing, The Bowl With the Vegan Rat Stew,Twinkie Twinkie Little Star, Tortilla Flat, Cracker Tower, and Of Rice and Hen.

Campus partners in this year’s festival include Justice and Service in Tacoma (JuST), Pi Beta Phi women’s fraternity, Dining and Conference Services, and the Puget Sound Bookstore.

The International Edible Book Festival was started by Judith Hoffberg, who got the idea while sharing a Thanksgiving turkey with book artists, and by Béatrice Coron, who created the Books2Eat website that coordinates the event. The festival has been running since 2000 and pays homage to French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826), who was born on April 1, and who is famous for his witty book Physiologie du goût, ou méditations de gastronomie transcendante. For more information visit: http://www.books2eat.com/